In Case You Missed It, we’ve got some highlights from The Marcus / Studio 37 Fabrics booth at Quilt Market in Houston! Enjoy the slideshow below —
“Autumn Breeze” pattern by Material Grilfriends, featuring SCRAP HEAP by Laura Berringer and Marcus AGED MUSLINS
RACHEL’S TRIBUTE – Fabric and BOM by Pam Buda
SONGBOOK: PRAISE & REJOICE in Material Girlfriends “Ensemble” pattern; and their “Bona Fide” pattern done in SOULFUL SHADES OF PINK. All fabrics by Laura Berringer
HILL COUNTRY HERITAGE BOM and mini quilts by Red Crinoline Quilts
Artful raw-edge applique by Miriam Rawson, using SCRAP HEAP textures by Laura Berringer
“Village Square” quilt done in NEW CIRCA ESSENTIALS and NEW CIRCA SHIRTINGS, all by Pam Buda
SEMI SOLID Collection by Laura Berringer; Quilt Pattern by Krisanne Watkins
SEMI SOLID Collection by Laura Berringer; Quilt Pattern by Krisanne Watkins
BRICK – Fabric and quilts by Dolores Smith
BRICK quilts by Dolores Smith and REUNION BOM by Sarah Maxwell
Mending and Patching themes continue…
What were your favorite looks at Market? Did you spot any interesting trends? Comment below and let us know!
It’s Quilt Market Time, and as always, we look forward to seeing all of you in Houston — You’ll find Marcus Fabrics and Studio 37 Fabrics in Booth #1114 with the best in traditional and trendy fabric collections, top-notch BOM programs, basics, must-haves and more! Let’s start with a sneak-peek of our newest Block-of-the-Month programs…
RACHEL’S TRIBUTE BOM by Pam Buda
WOODLAND GETAWAY BOM by Cindy Staub
BLUE RIBBON BOM by Cindy Staub
SOULFUL SHADES OF PINK BOM by Material Girlfriends
Then, be sure to stock up on these popular must-haves, including premium quality 108″ quilt backs in contemporary designs, new trending cheddars and browns, and an array of artful textures for piecing, applique and handwork backgrounds!
NEW 108″ Wide BACKINGS!
CHEDDAR & CHOCOLATE by Pam Buda
FADED & STITCHED by Laura Berringer
TOOLBOX BASICS by Dolores Smith
SCRAP HEAP by Laura Berringer
Once you’ve brought in all of this fabulous fabric, learn how to protect it! SCHOOLHOUSE happens on Oct 25 – and you won’t want to miss our session entitled “Loss Prevention for the Quilt Shop”. Join Vicki McCarty of Calico Patch Designs, and her husband Tom, a police detective with over 17 years in retail, as they share loss prevention tips, from theft deterrence to dealing with shoplifters. Prepare yourself for the critical but less glamorous area of retail life. 4:55pm-5:25pm / Room 371E
…and visit our exhibiting designers at Market:
Calico Patch Designs / Vicky McCarty Booth #1108
Designs by Sarah J / Sarah Maxwell Booth #1119
Material Girlfriends / Lisa Norton & Lora Zmak Booth #1003
Nancy Rink Designs / Nancy Rink Booth #1117
Red Crinoline / Paula Barnes & Mary Ellen Robison Booth #1115
You’ll notice that our designers are all close to the Marcus booth, making it easy for you to take in all of the inspiration at once! We look forward to seeing you and serving you at Market… if you’re not attending, we’re sorry to miss you, but be sure to follow us on Instagram @marcusfabrics and @studio37fabrics, and on Facebook (Make It with Marcus Fabrics).
Since its inception in 1985, Breast Cancer Awareness Month has served to increase attention and support for awareness, early detection and treatment as well as palliative care of this disease. This campaign starts on October 1 and ends on October 31 every year, and is marked in countries around the world and has come to be known as “Pinktober.”
As we
all know, our quilting community has always engaged its passion for the benefit
and support of others in times of need, and projects aligned with the worthy
cause of breast cancer awareness are among the most rewarding for creative
stitchers, incorporating the familiar “pink ribbon” fabrics and
embellishments.
Now, as the movement matures, fabric offerings are keeping pace, as illustrated by the SOULFUL SHADES OF PINK collection by Laura Berringer for Studio 37 Fabrics. Most notably, the palette takes a more refined tone, with updated, more sophisticated shades of pink, blended with shades of grey and white.
By
refreshing the color scheme and mixing prints with both ribbon and non-ribbon
motifs, Laura takes the collection beyond the October theme, creating a
year-long expression of love and hope.
Seeing the fabrics, the design duo atMaterial Girlfriends Patterns created the Soulful Shades of Pink BOM, using their Bona Fide quilt pattern. Twin-sisters Lisa Norton and Lora Zmak took Laura’s inspiration a step further, explaining the significance of the colors:
“One
in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, which
means we all know someone fighting this disease. We are complex emotional
individuals, and as textile artists, we use color to express and process our
involvement with breast cancer. So why use pink to promote the awareness of
Breast Cancer? In the psychology of color, Pink represents a gentle and caring
love, such as a love for a girlfriend, mother, sister, or daughter. While the Grey represents sorrow, the White
represents hope and healing.” Their
combination of the Bona Fide pattern with these fabrics “helps us be true to
the emotional roller coaster of love, sorrow, hope, and healing. This project
encourages us to feel and express through color and quilting.”
For
quilt makers and recipients alike, we know that this very special quilt will
accomplish its mission of hope and healing. A portion of all sales of Soulful
Shades of Pink fabric will be donated to support breast cancer research.
Always popular among the reproduction crowd, cheddars have always been popular, often in combination with rich warm browns and other accents! These days, you’ll also find it in flannel prints and plaids, reproductions, even contemporary textures, as shown below. Even better, you’ll find it all year long, not only limited to autumn / harvest projects. So, choose your favorites and spice up your quilting with a few cheddars ; )
Visit the Marcus fabric gallery to view Cheddar & Chocolate, Tarrington, Semi Solid, Paula’s, Patches of Autumn, Maple Lake Flannels, Primo Flannels: Maple Lake and Harvest, Scrap Heap, Temecula Treasures, Companions, Songbook: Harvest, Special Scraps.
It’s August, and at Marcus Fabrics & Studio 37, that means it’s time for one of our biggest and best introductions of the year! Whether your creativity leans more toward traditional/ reproduction style, or you prefer a more trendy, contemporary feel (or maybe BOTH??) we’re pleased to present you with a plethora of exciting options from your favorite Marcus designers! To get more fully acquainted with these beautiful collections, visit MarcusFabrics.com
First, let’s get started with Marcus…
Golden cheddars, rich blues, traditional prints and shirtings, and the building blocks of a great quilt!
You’ll also love these designs from Studio 37:
Bold colors, florals, dots, stripes and textures!!
Fun stuff, right? And not only for quilts, but also for crafts, home decorating — from pillows to table settings — to handwork, applique, mending, embroidery, artful clothing and sew much more. Enjoy!
Our big, beautiful new BOM programs for 2020 have just been released, and with traditional, contemporary and updated classic looks, we’re sure you’ll find a favorite among them! View the slideshow above for a preview…
Reunion features Sarah Maxwell’s FULL CIRCLE collection, a tribute to Judie Rothermel ‘s signature reproduction style, in an updated, slightly brighter palette.
Harmony is Nancy Rink’s new BOM, designed with prints from her NIGHT RIVIERA collection of cool, calm purples and greens. It continues her exploration of medallion style quilts, with well-placed touches of applique, or course!
And the Red Crinoline ladies bring us Hill Country Heritage, designed in a gorgeous fabric line of the same name by Paula Barnes. The HILL COUNTRY HERITAGE prints were inspired by an antique border stripe.
Quilt Shop Owners: Reserve a Trunk Show Model
Do you own a quilt shop? If you’re interested in available dates for Sarah Maxwell’s Reunion quilt, and Red Crinoline Quilt’s Hill Country Heritage quilt, please contact the respective designers directly. Simply email: sarah@designsbysarahj.com; or call Mary Ellen Robison at Red Crinoline at 281 232-2583.
Nancy Rink and Sarah Maxwell are all set to bring you “Mix It Up”, another exciting quilt-along project, and this one begins on May 17!
The designers “mix it up” by adding different 12″ blocks to the core combination of 18″ and 6″ blocks, and of course each uses her own fabric collections – Nancy uses DO THE MATH and GETTING TO KNOW HUE while Sarah uses her SEW SWEET BATIKS and PRETTIFUL POSIES.
And, not only can you choose to recreate one (or both!) of their quilts shown above…But you’ll also benefit from the creative input of several of the duo’s quilting buddies, including Dolores Smith of Timeworn Toolbox Designs, Elisabeth Hardy of Elisabew Quilts, Tiffany Hayes of Needle in a Hayes Stack, and Karen O’Connor of Lady K Quilts.
We know…spring weather is “thisclose” and we can’t wait! And our upcoming collections prove that there’s fresh inspiration to be found everywhere, from traditional prints and palettes to silk neckties, from a tranquil garden to a coastal paradise, from an elegant manor to America’s Favorite Pastime If you’re in need of a creative boost, check out what’s coming to quilt shops near you in the coming months:
Pam Buda, and all of us at Marcus, are thrilled to see the Circa 1880 Club in full swing in quilt shops across the country and beyond! Pam just shared this photo from Karen, a friend Pam traded blocks with when creating her own Circa quilt. Karen is one of the 70 Circa participants stitching at Pieceful Gatherings in Fox River Grove, IL:
An impressive sight! Many of the shop’s members sent them in by mail for trading.
How is your club progressing? Remember that your participating quilt shop can enter our video contest, to complete for the grand prize — a trunk show visit from Pam Buda, or one of two other great quilt shop prizes — have your shop look into the details!
And just for fun, club members can email club pictures for possible inclusion here on our blog!! (Please be sure you have the permission of anyone visible in your photos before you send them.)
February is National Embroidery Month! And it just happens that the newest additions to our design family are both embroidery experts! We asked them to share a few of their favorite tips for creating beautiful hand embroidered projects.
Cindy Staub of Quilt Doodle Designsdebuted with Marcus last month with her SNOWMEN SNOW GLOBE BOM program, using her pre-printed panel and coordinating PRIMO PLAID FLANNELS: New Blues. We love Cindy’s mix of blue flannel stars surrounding the “snowfriends” globe, which she cut from the panel. On the panel you’ll find other fun design elements suitable for smaller projects, whether stitched or used as they are.
We asked Cindy to share a few embroidery tips; these are some of her favorites:
Use good quality thread such as Valdani #12 pearl cotton. “I am fond of the variegated thread since I like the extra dimension it gives my stitching.”
Have a small scissor handy for snipping threads. Cindy uses the OLFA.applique scissors.
If you are a beginner to embroidery, don’t fret, you don’t need to know a bunch of stitches. “Good stitches to begin with are a backstitch
and French knots.”
Cindy also recommends using a light to medium weight fusible (iron-on) interfacing to underline your fabric, it helps hide your thread from the ‘backside’.
Karen Phillips-Shwallon made her design debut for Marcus with HEIRLOOM SPLENDOR, a trio of pre-printed panels ready for your thread embellishment and more. The designs would be perfect for wedding and anniversary gifts and new baby keepsakes, as well as everyday home decor enjoyment.
She also share a few favorite creative products:
For her stuffwork dimensional needlework Karen prefers Tuscany 100% Premium Polyester OR Mountain Mist Light as her batting and DMC Perle #12 thread
Look for these beginner-friendly pre-printed panels in quilt shops – Heirloom Splendor is available now, and Snowmen Snow Globe comes to quilt shops in June, when we’ll likely welcome cool thoughts as we line up new stitching projects for fall and winter!
Cindy Staub
